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Well, I took the plunge, I Pre-Ordered Castle Grayskull! No going back now! Since my birthday is at the end of January, I have decided to make it my 2013 birthday gift! I hope the production goes off without a hitch, and I hope that there are no major issues with this release. I'm putting good vibes out there for it already...put out the good energy for it!

My Granamyr hasn't arrived yet, but I am putting out the good vibes that he will come healthy, lol! It's like waiting for your baby to be born(well not really, but).

How many of us are complaining about Granamyr's defects? How big is this problem?

And couldn't you return Grayskull for a refund, if you have any problems with it?

I was saying that if someone wants to complain let them, who cares? Who does it hurt?

Point is You shouldn't have to worry about things like the Hover Board, things should be as promised, that is the issue, not that you can go through almost 2 weeks of waiting for a then $300 playset, if defective have to deal with BS from DR to get the ball rolling, then have to waste time and effort to ship the damn huge ass thing back....is all that worth $300 for those that know they have to dish out the money for something like that. Returning something to DR is almost an asinine thing in itself, how many keep crap just so they don't have to go through the hassle?

I have no idea what the issue with the hoverboard is. I occasionally see complaints, but I don't understand what is upsetting about them.

The Hover Board is not screen accurate as they said it would be, they even had prop models to go by, it doesn't have the hologram on it or whatever it's called, the foot pad straps are wrong....

They said and showed what people were getting as things went along, and one time a finished prototype board looked identical to the one on screen....and yet somehow the final board ended up looking completely different than the one shown to everyone. I don't know all the details, as I don't own one, it didn't pertain to me so I skimmed through most of the news I saw o it, and a few articles and reviews on it....

I have no idea what the issue with the hoverboard is. I occasionally see complaints, but I don't understand what is upsetting about them.

Kain, I have seen you ask this a few times. Simply click on the link I provided earlier. Bob Gale, co-writer and producer of the BTTF Films, provided his personal Hoverboards to assist Scott and his team and his name was used to promote the pre-sale. He has now taken back his endorsement and apologized to fans for his involvement.

As to other people complaining about negativity, sorry - facts are facts. If you do not see a reason to worry about Grayskull when this similar preorder product has just become a huge embarrassment, then more power to you. Ignore people who point out realities you do not wish to acknowledge. This, combined with how poorly it looks like Gran pointed out (even if he wasn't having all the technical issues people are having, I still think he looks pretty cheaply made/designed for an $80 product), is a great cautionary red flag.

In any case, no harm can be done at this point. Grayskull is being made. But I certainly am glad I waited to order multiples; I only ordered one, but had every intention of ordering at least one or two more before the presale ended. Now, thankfully, I will only have to get one. I hope that it turns out spectacular, but judging by all the evidence we have of Mattel's recent similar attempts, and just how they are in general, I don't have a lot of confidence. Certainly not enough to plunk down $300-600 more dollars. It's sad, but the only part of me that thinks I should order more is the one that says "that increases your chances of getting one that isn't messed up", but I refuse to do so for that reason.

YMMV, and if facts bother anyone, I recommend they ignore my posts as I tend to post quite a few of them.

As to other people complaining about negativity, sorry - facts are facts. If you do not see a reason to worry about Grayskull when this similar preorder product has just become a huge embarrassment, then more power to you. Ignore people who point out realities you do not wish to acknowledge.

[snip]

YMMV, and if facts bother anyone, I recommend they ignore my posts as I tend to post quite a few of them.

So for only 50$ extra I can wait and see the prototype first?
I think I will wait then.

I have faith in the 4HM and their design, and I'm sure the prototype will look great in the end, however Mattel's quality control and the lack of it is what we need to worry about. I never seen sooo many hiccups in a premium toy line such like this before!!! It's just atrocious!

I have now taken a HUGE dive in pre-ordering me Castle Grayskull. I have been one of those undecided ones. And really I was not at all sure if I wanted to go forward with this. I feel i ultimately made the right decision, and one of the deciding factors is the fact I have an entire year to be ready for the charge when I get billed. So that's a good thing. Ugly price for sure for the Castle, but It's barely sinking in me that I'm actually going to get Grayskull by the end of 2013.

If I were a betting man, I would put money on the hinges on CG causing stress to the plastic and breaking/cracking off over time.

Someone on the org should get a pool started on what will be defective about Castle Grayskull when it arrives.

Based on the 20xx Castle, I was most worried about the upper floor stability (i.e. will they support a couple of characters without falling down), but you are right - it's the quality of materials that really are it's concerning. I pray to Grayskull that they don't cheap out on those.

I have faith in the 4HM and their design, and I'm sure the prototype will look great in the end, however Mattel's quality control and the lack of it is what we need to worry about. I never seen sooo many hiccups in a premium toy line such like this before!!! It's just atrocious!

Amen. As far as I'm concerned, the issues with this line have never been the 4HM. If anything, they are the only people at Mattel who know what they're doing. It's Scott and his design team that create all the issues, as well as whatever factory full of imbeciles they use. As much as I enjoy throwing Scott under the bus, I really don't think a lot of it is his fault. I'm positive that if he had it his way, they never would have used black plastic, would never cheap out on accessories, etc. I think Mattel just has a really bad corporate culture when it comes to cutting corners, and I'm sure the orders come from upstairs to cheapen things and Scott has to figure out ways to accommodate this. I ordered 2 CGs and I', 99% certain I will not think they were worth the $250 I paid. I really don't feel like any of these figures are truly worth what we pay.

So for only 50$ extra I can wait and see the prototype first?
I think I will wait then.

Given the fact that they now sell their old stock with a 40% increase, I also expected the day of sales price to be a bit higher.

- - - Updated - - -

Originally Posted by He-Kal

Apparently the only thing they will EVER do is a preorder for is CG--(sorry vehicles, beasts,etc). Honestly, with all ideas/suggestions from fans being shot down by Matty, I can see why people are getting SOOOOOO frustrated now (and I usually see the glass half full). At the end of the day it definitely feels like we are the lepers of the toy community sometimes

I don't get why they didn't produce him in green and in red from the start (except for TG's buh huh huh it's another SKU)

"A knight is sworn to valor. His heart knows only virtue. His blade defends the helpless. His word speaks only truth. His wrath undoes the wicked."

Based on the 20xx Castle, I was most worried about the upper floor stability (i.e. will they support a couple of characters without falling down), but you are right - it's the quality of materials that really are it's concerning. I pray to Grayskull that they don't cheap out on those.

Well, it all depends on Mattel's business methods and model. I have to say that from my short time collecting MOTUC, I have seen that overall the quality is good. I have a concern though about materials and the fact that everything is outsourced to foreign entities. Everything is produced in China, India, and Indonesia likely in some sweat shop where the QC methods are poor (to produce at the lowest cost possible). If Mattel uses the same logic with materials (i.e. using the cheapest materials), then these issues will keep cropping up over and over.

I have faith in the 4HM and their design, and I'm sure the prototype will look great in the end, however Mattel's quality control and the lack of it is what we need to worry about. I never seen sooo many hiccups in a premium toy line such like this before!!! It's just atrocious!

I'll never get why some people do blame the 4H, they just sculpt the things, Mattel is responsible for any bad design decisions while translating it from what we see revealed to what we actually get.

I was going to preorder the Castle, but after these recent events I'm not sure what to do. I have no faith in Scott or his team.

What worries me is what happened with the Hoverboard. What happened there is that they cheaped out and did not use a lenticular and instead went with a paper sticker along with scotch tape for the logo design. The excuse was that they could not cost that into the $120 price point, yet they sold the preorder with that promise. My fear is that they will screw up the Castle in some way and just use the same excuse.

the one ray of hope they have a year before it comes out. so maybe 8 months or so to test it out right. Maybe..just maybe they will get it together and fix anything that seems or is wrong. But hope in one hand and all. I have faith in the horsemen..but the quality control guys and the people who get the plastic..we shall see

What worries me is what happened with the Hoverboard. What happened there is that they cheaped out and did not use a lenticular and instead went with a paper sticker along with scotch tape for the logo design. The excuse was that they could not cost that into the $120 price point, yet they sold the preorder with that promise. My fear is that they will screw up the Castle in some way and just use the same excuse.

Scotch tape? Really?
I was aware of the change in the sticker, but scotch tape........ Wow. Just wow. Sorry to come across as doubting you, but this scotch tape really does need to be seen to be fully believed.
Where could I see some pics of this?

It may be a little difficult to see since the tape is clear, but basically Matty used two separate decals for the top half and two separate decals for the bottom half of the Hoverboard and joined them together with scotch tape. Scott claimed in a response on the Matty website that tape was not apart of the product and may have been apart of the packing material, but if you look at the pics you can see that this is untrue because the tape goes under the magnet piece on the bottom of the board. Here's a link to Scott's post below in case he tries to dispute anything I've said.

Yeah remember, it was a design choice, really!!! I'd believe it when people believe that my girlfriend is the queen of the amazon...
Honestly, after what had happened to the 200X line, I really had no faith in the company anymore, however, when it was announced that 4HM are back at it again, and the sales will be online exclusives, I went for it... If it wasn't for the 4HM, I wouldn't have been here collecting this line until this day...

Originally Posted by PPC

I was going to preorder the Castle, but after these recent events I'm not sure what to do. I have no faith in Scott or his team.

What worries me is what happened with the Hoverboard. What happened there is that they cheaped out and did not use a lenticular and instead went with a paper sticker along with scotch tape for the logo design. The excuse was that they could not cost that into the $120 price point, yet they sold the preorder with that promise. My fear is that they will screw up the Castle in some way and just use the same excuse.

After seeing the pics, I only can say WOW!!! This is just way too low from Mattel. As for CG, I believe we don't have to worry about having stickers (or a scotch tape for that matter), since most of the deco will be sculpted like the Wind-Raider. But as far as QC goes, it remains to be seen...